Dear parents,
It has been a long while since our last letter. Autumn is coming to an end, winter is just around the corner, and we are coming to the end of our Numberwork Main Lesson for this term. There have been some breaks in the term, children have been sick, and the cold mornings and rainy days are steering us indoors with a greater feeling for hibernation and staying warm and cozy. All this, together with the fact that Numberwork is often a ‘difficult’/challenging Main Lesson, can be trying on the children. In this ML, they are not as wrapped up in the fantasy of story, drawing and writing as they would be with the Letters. Now they are tasked with doing much more; counting and writing numbers, working out ‘sums’ and numberwork problems that require much more concentration and understanding. Now differences in knowledge, experience, skills, levels of interest, perseverance and focus become more apparent, and it takes a lot more to keep them focused and engaged. But they have worked hard and much has been achieved. When we look back at the first term, we remember that we worked on the Quality of Numbers and simple counting and rhythmic work. This term we made great jumps, working with the Bonds of 5, 7 & 10, the Number Line to 80 (we will go to 100 soon). We worked with Odd and Even numbers and introduced the Four Operations/Processes +-×÷. The slow and unhurried approach of the previous term was replaced by a greater immersion into numbers and counting, with children working with counters, drawing (the amount of) objects (tedious for some), arranging objects in number order, playing with number cards - constantly becoming aware of numbers. At this stage the concepts of the WHOLE, EQUALS and the FOUR PROCESSES are important to give them the big picture of mathematics. These are the foundations on which their number concepts and confidence will be built. They are not yet at the stage of working out complicated sums, but through the continued work with movement, concrete, experiential and embodied learning, they are developing a sounder number concept understanding. In all this, the story of the Land of Numbers continued, where Andreas and Mudiki have been on a mission to learn numbers and calculations so that they can help the people in the Land of Confusion. They are slowly getting it, but it is not always easy. They have met Queen Equals, Prince Plus, Princess Minus, Tommy Times the Jester and David Divide the gnome. These characters give the children the quality of each operation; Prince Plus is about making things more, always adding to the store – about abundance. Princess Minus is about giving away – especially to those in need – but she can never give away more than she has. Tommy Times is quick and joyful and multiplies everything in a flash, making counting so much quicker. David Divide is organised and quick tempered, not liking to be disturbed, but when called upon, loves to share things equally. And Queen Equals makes sure that everything is in balance. Numberwork is (still) fun! Soon we start with the VOWELS (class not to be missed!) All the best. Teacher Beulah 1 June 2021 |
AuthorTeacher Beulah's 'Letter to the Parents' Archives
February 2023
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